The Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules (NPOD) at the University of Nebraska supports research on the identification of biological, mainly food-borne, signals that prevent, treat, and cure obesity and obesity-related diseases. NPOD, a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), is guided by the overarching goals to strengthen the metabolic, obesity, and nutrition research infrastructure in Nebraska and enhance the ability of NPOD investigators to compete for external research funding ? all while making significant research contributions to combatting the national obesity epidemic. Critical to NPOD's ability to operate effectively and efficiently is a strong Administrative Core that provides the programmatic leadership, administrative support, and infrastructure necessary to ensure the center is successful. Importantly, the Administrative Core will maintain continuity in its leadership and the membership of its external and internal advisory committees during COBRE Phase 2. During Phase 1, the Administrative Core played an instrumental role in NPOD success as evidenced by several key metrics. NPOD junior investigators published 154 peer- reviewed publications and secured approximately $31M in research dollars, including 11 major research grants from NIH (three R01, one R21, one R35), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (three), the American Heart Association (two), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Center membership grew to 51 multidisciplinary investigators in 16 units with over $96M in external research funding. The Administrative Core secured additional space and equipment for NPOD's Research Core and will play a key role in the center's Phase 2 success by leveraging NIH funding and institutional commitments for five new faculty positions in four departments (plus a UNL Program of Excellence hire in nutrigenomics), approximately $1.2M toward start-up packages, and over $1M in cash matches in support of pilot, seed, and revision grant programs, mentor incentives, and equipment purchases. The Administrative Core will leverage these commitments and Phase 1 successes to 1) increase the critical mass of center investigators conducting multidisciplinary research through new hires, pilot and seed grants, and facilitate the submission of large-scale proposals through providing P01 (or RM1) pilot grant funding; 2) facilitate the transition of junior investigators to independent investigator status by providing honoraria for external and internal mentors, support for individual development plans with milestones, formative and summative evaluations, and networking opportunities via travel support and a visiting professors program; 3) support the success of the Biomedical and Obesity Research Core by coordinating services in experimental design, large data processing, and biostatistics and bioinformatics analyses and facilitating the acquisition of equipment with institutional commitments for five new equipment additions planned in Phase 2; and 4) broaden the scope of center research to include clinical and translational research by recruiting a new hire and considering nine in a pipeline of 21 candidates for project leader slots who have a focus on clinical and translational research.